C. Oregon WWII veterans prepare for Honor Flight

Five World War II veterans from Central Oregon are going on an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. and NewsChannel 21’s Wanda Moore will travel with them.

On Thursday, four of them shared with us their war stories and their excitement about the upcoming trip.

Honor Flights take a selected group of veterans to the nation’s capital to see the World War II Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and other sites.

Irving Kaplan of Bend, Robert Grills of Bend, Sandy Porter of La Pine and George Murphy of Redmond all have incredible stories to tell. Most of them were around 20 years old when they were drafted.

They served in the Air Force, Navy and Marines, and although the war ended 70 years ago, they all remember that time as if it was yesterday.

“The waves were so high some days you couldn’t see anything and the next thing you would see were hundreds, literally hundreds of landing craft,” said Murphy, who served in the Air Force and helped open up the first Allied airstrip in France.

Robert Grills served in the Navy and remembers the day they arrived on the shores of Okinawa, Japan like it was yesterday.

“Several men had wounds. Scrap metal (from burning planes) was just raining down like hail,” Grills said.

Make sure you tune in when NewsChannel 21 brings you their stories live from Washington, D.C. May 13-16.

More information at: http://honorflightofeasternoregon.org/